I am constantly dying in this game, and I would like to be able to equip myself better/more swiftly. I haven't found any rhyme or reason to the way enemies drop weapons yet. Are there any specific ways I can go about finding better items/weapons?

11 Answers
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These are determined by the type of item (armor, weapon, ability items, ring, etc.) and the item's tier (amongst its own type). Also remember that all the drops are random. Nothing is ever guaranteed to drop and more often than not monsters drop nothing. Bigger groups seem to generate more drops tough, so group up (more on that later).

For early game, go after the quests you get. Those should direct you to little boss monster (usually surrounded by smaller monsters) that drop low tier items to get you started. Pirate Cave is also a great place to get starting gear and it's easy enough to clear on your own.

Problem with all of these (in increasing degree towards the bottom of the list) is that they are all quite deadly and you'll have a hard time dealing with them on your own, even at level 20. The solution is to not go at it alone.
Look the minimap in the upper right corner. Zoom it all the way out with your mouse wheel and find a big bunch of other players. Click one of them and choose "teleport". More often than not you'll be teleported smack in the middle of a fight. The closer to the center of the map the group is, the more likely there will be tough mosters of some sort around for you and your newfound friends to kill.

And don't worry too much about getting your loot stolen. The better gear gets dropped in a differently coloured, "soulbound" loot sacks that only you can see and open. However, they only drop if you did enough damage to the monster in question.

From my playing of RotMG, I have found that the better loot drops from the stronger enemies so defeat stronger enemies and take their loot.

Many of the enemies yielding the best loot can really only be defeated with a larger group of mostly level 20s with better equipment and therein lies a large part of the problem as the best regular loot is often if not always ninja'd. Given the player turnover and the frequency of people teleporting into the larger groups to leech XP and ninja loot, it becomes increasingly frustrating. As lunboks has correctly stated, you usually need the better loot dropped by these tougher enemies in order to beat these tougher enemies, hence the necessity of ninja looting and leeching in order to do so. There is rare loot that drops if you do enough damage, but you essentially need such loot in order to do enough damage.

Here are a few strategies that I've used/seen.

The Straightforward Approach

One strategy I've used that mitigates the delay between attempts to get better loot after dying is:

quickly get on a train and level to 20 as fast as you can once you've entered an area. At least with the stat boosts from leveling, you stand a marginal chance of surviving against some of the marginally difficult enemies in order to get some basic loot.

Get some mid-level loot. Drakes are a good target as they lure easily, their pattern is easily avoided. There's also the hope for rare drops.

Once you're equipped a bit (I prefer all slots full, but that's up to you), you can join some larger groups to take on the harder enemies and hope your luck/skill can pull you through alive and net you some decent equips. I usually fail at this step either by dying or getting the good loot ninja'd before I can get it (stupid network latency). Playing with friends can help here a bit I would believe, but I can't really test that. Knowing how to play your class well and how to dodge the attacks is very important at this step.

Whatever your equips and level, when you get pulled into the castle of the mad god, be sure to hold back enough so as not to get slaughtered as your health can drain in no time here and your mana will get wiped often. Stick near some healers. Carrying lots of pots is wise. Mana pots for the healers are also a good idea.

The Pest Approach

Beg and ask for charity. If someone gives you the decent (or at least better than what you've got) equips that they've picked up, then you won't have to hunt them. This approach can get very annoying both for you and everyone nearby, but I've seen it work so it is one way to go.

I don't personaly find the problem of loot getting ninja'd as big of a problems as you claim it is. Basic loot is easy to solo. Long range characters have little to no problems dealing enough damage to Realm Gods to get the soulbound drop, if they just can keep themselves alive. Short range characters might have bigger problems with the staying alive part, tough. They can grind better equipment from Lesser Gods that are relatively easy to solo, but this can take time.
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DJ PirtuApr 19 '12 at 22:04

Oh man I've never been level 20 before (my best is 13ish). I've only been to the castle once, and it was quite sudden so I don't know how you can better prepare with potions for that. Also I've never had a problem with ninja'd gear either, like DJ was saying, but maybe I haven't played it long enough
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JeffApr 19 '12 at 22:32

@Jeff You should try playing a support role if you want to hit 20 and get good gear. People really appreciate a Priest who has well-timed heals; I got my best gear from players donating to me after keeping them alive during the Mad God fight. Also, since you are long ranged with a focus on healing you should never really die while with teammates. Just keep around 3 mana potions on you at all times in case you run into trouble and need a lot of healing.
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Sadly NotSep 14 '12 at 23:21

@Jeff An when in the castle, don't hesitate to run away when you see mobs! They really hurt and if you aren't level 20 with good gear you shouldn't feel bad for letting others take the damage instead of you. You can be most helpful by standing back, staying alive and healing those who are tanking for you.
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Sadly NotSep 14 '12 at 23:22

I actually rage quit this game months ago (I was level 20 for hours and was following some level 17 or something and at full health ran into 3 Medusa's and was instantly killed, upset me so much I've never touched the game again). However your advice is good and should help others still playing the game, so thanks
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JeffSep 15 '12 at 23:38

Strategy for getting loot ? Do greater damage than everyone around you or solo realm gods. I personally recommend solo-ing in god land. Other players just interfere or drag more gods. If you can survive in god land, you definitely get soul bounds. I'm a level 20 player with 5 maxed stats and ut stuff. The strategy is simple kill gods and stay alive in god land. As you are starter I personally recommend you to be priest and solo in god land. Priest is invincible in right hands. You don't have collect any pots for priest. Priest's wis and mana are enough to survive in god land. When you get stat pots, dont sell them for better equip. Consume stat potions. If you find anyone near you using doom, cbow, cosmic, cdirk and other top tier stuff. Get away from them. With those around you won't get any soul bounds.

Just get to a half decent level, I suggest 7 or around there and then go to the GodLands, stick to the back, doing the same in Oryx's Castle, and when your a level 20, you can start leaving the pack for bags.

Now, you can just trawl for blue bags and try to get good speed so you can get to bags or chest before others poach them, and soon, you have decent gear, you can go soloing at this point.

The gear you should have is as follows, T8-T9 Weapon, T4-T5 Ability, T8-T9 Armour, and a Para Ring. But, if you don't quite have those, you should still be able to hold your own, especially if you've got good stats.

I found that doing the undead lair is a great way to get drops. You start off as a group but usually everyone is in a rush to get to the boss and finish him off. Once that has been done hang around and explore the missed rooms - you will fill up on drops as long as you don't die. Usually the undead lair opens around the volcanic area (godlands) (another place to get good drops or die) after a ghost god is killed.

I would like to add here a link to realmeye wiki. I have not seen it in other answers, but I found it very useful.
This wiki, among many other things, includes descriptions of all equipment, including who drops it. For example, Teir-6 sword.

But shortly what you need to remember:

If you want better equipment you need to kill stronger monsters, which are closer to the centre of the map. Though dungeon monsters are easier to kill because they are alone in a separate rooms.

Each drop has a certain probability to happen, typically much less that 100%. So each monster from time to time will drop different things or even nothing at all.

Oh, something you should know is if your looking for loot for a specific class, you need to play a different one, usually you will get good drops for every other class but your own. Also, join guilds, guild members usually help each other out by giving you stuff if you ask them if they have any weps they dont need. Usually i solo the gods becuase the more damage you do than anyone else in the fast amount of time gives you soul bags.